The goal of education can be defined in many ways; but in searching the literature, we found that in most cases, people consider the goal of education to be developing a self-determined individual. Self-determination is an abstract term. Behavior analysts may find this term difficult to define. Therefore, it may be difficult to observe and measure…

Although it is now widely accepted that developmental co-ordination disorder (DCD) persists into adolescence and adulthood, few studies have assessed the concept of Quality of Life (QOL) within the adult DCD population. This is despite a growing recognition that children and adolescents with DCD experience poorer QOL than their typically developed…

This study examines parents' perspectives of the participation patterns (frequency, involvement, and parental desire for change) in their adolescent children's everyday functioning with and without executive function deficit profiles. Parents of 81 adolescents (10-14) years) with executive function deficits (n = 41) and a matched group of parents…

Restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRB) are observed in young children with intellectual and developmental delays or disabilities (DD) including autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Self-injurious behavior is often considered an extreme form of RRB, but the nature of the relation between SIB and other forms of RRBs is not completely understood.…

The goal of this study is to propose the Siblings' Experience Quality Scale (SEQS), a measure for the assessment of cognitive, emotional and behavioral experience of adult individuals having a brother or sister with an intellectual/developmental disability, chronic physical illness or mental illness, on five dimensions: Closeness, Conflict,…

Several neurodevelopmental disorders are associated with preference for routine and challenging behavior following changes to routines. We examine individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome, who show elevated levels of this behavior, to better understand how previous experience of a routine can affect challenging behavior elicited by disruption to…

Background: There is a need for a more accurate characterisation of higher level restricted and repetitive behaviour (RRB) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including why it might be considered problematic and events associated with its occurrence. Method: We selected one form of higher level RRB--arranging and ordering--that was rated as severe…

Stereotypical behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement often does not result in harm but may be undesirable in some situations. In the current investigation, participants were 2 individuals who engaged in nonharmful stereotypical responses shown in an analogue functional analysis to be insensitive to social contingencies. After bringing…

Sensory processing (SP) difficulties have been reported in as many as 95% of children with autism, however, empirical research examining the existence of specific patterns of SP difficulties within this population is scarce. Furthermore, little attention has been given to examining the relationship between SP and either the core symptoms or…

This study examined the optimal timing (infancy, toddler-preschool, or both) for facilitating responsive parenting and the intervention effects on maternal behaviors and child social and communication skills for children who vary in biological risk. The intervention during infancy, Playing and Learning Strategies (PALS I), showed strong changes in…

A sequence of behaviors consisting of appropriate responses, inappropriate responses, or a combination of both can be linked together in a behavior chain. Several operant processes may disrupt behavior chains. For example, one or more members of the behavior chain may be affected when reinforcement is withheld for the last response in the chain…

Children with developmental disabilities are slower to develop skills at intentional and symbolic communication than typically developing children, and may rely on atypical patterns of preintentional behaviors to support more complex communication development. The present study compared complex gaze engagement behaviors elicited by 25…

People with developmental disabilities sleep less and experience higher incidence of clinical sleep disorders than the general population. Exploring the neurophysiology linking sleep with daytime performance in patients with developmental disabilities is now possible using minimally sufficient sleep and sleep-sensitive behavioral assays. Although…

The principle of motivation has resurfaced as an independent variable in the field of behavior analysis over the past 20 years. The increased interest is the result of the refinements of the concept of the motivating operation and its application to the learning needs of persons with developmental disabilities. Notwithstanding the increased…